Electrical connector



an. 18, 1944- w. L.,RUIBEL ET AL 2,339,354

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR 7 Filed June 22 1942 A ITOI/Vf) Patented Jan. 18, 1944 ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Walter L. Rubel, West Roxbury, Mass., and Frank, M. Kratoville, St. Louis, Mo., assignors to James R. Kearney Corporation, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application" June 22, 1942, Serial No. 447,922

. z'claims. (01.173-269) This invention relates generally to electrical connectors of the type adapted to provide terminal lugs and line splices for electrically and mechanically connecting electrical ,conductors to articles of electrical apparatus and for electrically and mechanically connecting sections of electrical conductors together, the predominant object of the invention being to provide an improved electrical connector of this type which because of its unique and improved construction and arrangement is capable of performing its intended function in an improved and highly efficient manner.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a former the invention which provides a terminal lug, said connector being shown in association with a fragment of a bus bar, and a portion of electrical conductor being associated therewith.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. a

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the connector and the bus bar in longitudinal section. Fig. 4 is a view of the invention when same is in the form of a line splice, the connector being shown in longitudinal section in Fig. 4 and portions of electrical conductors being associated therewith.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 4.

In the drawing, wherein are shown for the purpose of illustration, merely, two forms of the invention; A designates in Figs. 1,- 2, and 3, the improved connector generally wherein it is in the form of a terminal lug. The terminal lug A ofthe portions of said body portions adjacent to the opposite ends thereof, is substantially round in shapeJ-Intermediate of the substantially round portions of the opening I at the opposite end portions of the bodyportion l of the terminal lug A, said body portion is provided with a cavity 8 which forms a part of the opening 1. The

portion of the opening 1 formed by the cavity 8 is located at the upper portion of said opening in communication with the remainder of the opening, and said cavity is shaped as is shown to the best advantage in Figs. 2 and 3; that is to say the side and end walls of said cavity are preferably straight and the top wall is preferably slightly curved as is shown in Fig. 2.

Formed transversely of the body portion I of the terminal lug A is an aperture 9 which extends from side to side of said body portion as shown in Fig. 2, the intermediate portion of said aperture 9 communicating with the opening 1 of the body portion of the terminal lug at the bottom thereof. The intermediate portion of the aperture 9 that communicates with the opening I of the body portion of the terminal lug A is semicircular in cross-section while the portions of said aperture at opposite sides of said intermediate portion are substantially round.

Arranged for introduction into the aperture 9 is a pin III, which obviously is shaped in crosssection in accordance with the shape of the round portion of the aperture, and the aperture and the pin are of such relative diameters that when the pin is forced into the aperture it is gripped and held therein'by firm frictional engagement between the surface of the pin and the wall of the aperture. A matter of great importance in connection with the pin I B is that its leading end is shaped as shown in Fig. 2; that is to say, said leading end portion of said pin is provided with a camming face portion II which is preferably slightly curved and leads from the upper surface portion of the pin to the extreme end of the leading portion of said pin. Also the reduced outer end portion of the leading end of the pin I0 is rounded as shown at the point designated by the reference character l2 in Fig. 2.

When, in the use of the improved terminal lug A shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, it is desired to attach said terminal lug to an electrical conductor, the insulation of the conductor and the sheath thereof, if the conductor is provided with a sheath, is removed at the end of the conductor to bare a portion of the conductor proper at the end thereof at which the terminal lug is to be attached thereto, as shown in Figs-1 and 3 wherein the conductor is designated by the reference character Ca. The bare portion of the conductor is then introduced into the opening ,1 of the terminal lug, the pin. I0 having been previously removed from the aperture 9, and the opening 1 of a terminal lug'which is adapted to receive a certain size conductor will be of such size relative to the size of the conductor that saidconductor fits snugly within said opening.

When the bare portion of the conductor has been extended entirely through the opening I the pin I is introduced into the aperture 9 with the camming face portion ll of the leading end of the pin disposed upwardly. The pin I0 is then forced into and through the aperture 9 under pressure or hammer blows, and the reduced leading end portion of the pin will force its way beneath the conductor and will displace the conductor portion located immediately above the aperture 9 in an upward direction so that the upper portion of said displaced conductor portion is moved into the cavity 8 of the body portion of the terminal lug as shown to the best advantage in Fig. 3. When the pin I0 has been driven to its properly seated position within the aperture 9 the bare portion of the conductor isin the condition shown in Fig. 3 where it is securely gripped within the body portion of the terminal lug, the pin l0 and the corners l3 within the body portion of the terminal lug tightly engaging the conductor to prevent the bareconductor portion from being withdrawn from the opening 7 of said terminal lug, and the pin maintaining'an upward bulge in the conductor which produces the gripping action between said corners l3 and the conductor. v

It is import-ant to note that because of the shape of the leading endof the pin Hi there will be no shearing of the strands, of a cable-type conductor to which the terminal lug is being attached. Instead the rounded outer end l2 of the pin will force its way beneath the cable without damaging the strands thereof and the cable portion at the location of the pin will be raised by the camming face portion ll of the pin. the strands of the cable at the bottom thereof readjusting their positions so that they rest on the upper surface of the pin, as shown in Fig. 2, when said pin finally reaches its seated position in the aperture 9. r

In Figs. 4 and 5 a form of the invention is illustrated that provides a line splice which is designated generally in said views by the reference character 'B. .The line splice B is in the form of a sleeve 1 which is preferably, though not necessarily, tapered at its opposite ends and is of any suitable cross-section shape, such as the substantially rectangular shape shown in Fig. 5. The sleeve I has formed longitudinally therethrough from end to end thereof an opening 1?, and associated with said opening is a pair of cavities 8 which communicate with said open-- ing I at a side thereof. Also, the sleeve I has formed transversely therethrough a pair of apertures 9' which are adapted to receive 'pins [0' that are located opposite to the cavities B an additionally the sleeve I has fixedly mounted in an aperture I4 formed through the wall thereof a pin 15 which is located at the approximate longitudinal center of the sleeve and projects into into and through the apertures 9' to displace portions of the bare conductor portions so as to move parts thereof into the cavities 8' and thereby securely attach the sleeve and the conductors together in the manner hereinbefore explained in the description of the use of the terminal lug shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

While the drawing'illu'strates the conductors\ Ca, Cb, and Cc as being in the form of cables it is obvious that the invention disclosed herein will function equally well with solid, single strand conductors.

We claim:

1. An electrical connector comprising a part having an opening formed therein adapted to receive a portion of an electrical conductor, a cavity formed in a wall portion of said connector part which opens into said opening. said cavity having wall portions which are so related to portions of the wall of said opening of said connector part as to provide corners of right angle formation, said connector part having an aperture formed therein which is extended continuously from side to side of the connector part at an angle to the direction of extension of said opening and said aperture being located in opposed relation with respect to said cavity and with an intermediate portion of said aperture opening into said opening of said connector part to pro- ,vide a substantial overlap between the intermediate portion of the aperture and the opening. and a pin supported in said aperture so that an intermediate portion of said pin is disposed partially in said aperture and partially in said opening of the connector part, said portion of said pin which is disposed in said opening being adapted to displace a part of a portion of an elec trical conductor disposed in said opening of the connector part to cause said displaced part of said. electrical conductor portion to project into said cavity and contact with said angular corners.

2. An electrical connector comprising a part having an opening formed therein adapted to receive, a portion of an electrical conductor. a cavity formed in a wall portion of said connector part which opens into said opening, said connector part having an aperture formed therein which is extended continuously from side to side of the connector part at an angle to the direction of extension of said opening and said aperture being located in opposed relation with respect to said cavity and with an intermediate portion of said aperture opening into said opening of said connector part to provide a substantial overlap between the intermediate portion of the aperture and the opening, and a pin supported in said aperture so that an intermediate portion of said pin is disposed partially in said aperture and partially in said opening of the connector part, said portion of said pin which is disposed in said opening being adapted to displace a part of a portion of an electrical conductor disposed in said opening of the connector part to cause said displaced part of said electrical conductor portion to project into said cavity, said pin being provided with a cam face at an end thereof that extends in substantially one direction across substantially the entire end of the pin and which'permits said pin to be forced beneath said electrical conductor portion and causes a part of said electrical conductor portion to be elevated within saidopening,

WALTER L. RUBEL. FRANK M. KRA'I'OVILLE. 

